There’s a debate about what to call suicide and how it happens. For ages we’ve said a person “commits suicide.” This is accurate, since they have to perform some act that leads to their own death. But does this language minimize the role mental illness has in most suicides?
You always take on brave topics, which is laudable. The laws on ending fetal lives have not been arbitrary, until the overthrowing of Roe. The life they never consider is the life of the woman, who, being the physical host of the fetus, has the moral right to terminate at any and all times. Unfortunately that is not the case anywhere in the world; most everywhere she is considered a mere vessel and her life is considered as inferior value to the fetus she hosts.
When you speak of the cheapening of life, I think of the shocking latest customs on the cheapening of the lives of independent (not attached by an umbilical cord) people. As more of my friends are dying, I am hearing of obituaries not being written, and funerals/memorial svs being postponed for MONTHS, until "after the holidays," or "when it's convenient for everyone to get together." As if, "yeah, we don't want to pass up that Memorial Day barbeque, to officially mourn our loved one who can't attend, this year. He should have died at a more convenient time." It's not only a despicable lack of respect for the deceased, it's a slap in the face to the loved ones who need the comfort of mourning together, and sharing their grief. In fact no one can even be bothered to go through the phone book of the deceased and notify people. Apparently you need to be on Facebook, and be a "friend" on Facebook and check your account daily, to find out if your loved one died. The cheapening, and commercialization, of life is AWFUL and terrifying.
I dont know much about the laws on "assisted suicide" or "death with dignity." It is one thing to take one's own life, and another thing to have it facilitated by the medical community. I do think that mental anguish can be as severe as physical suffering, although I have not experienced severe physical suffering with no end in sight. I had friends who took their lives. Yes it was tragic and traumatic for me. But it matters, more, what it means for them. I hope and pray they are in a better place and no longer suffering.
You always take on brave topics, which is laudable. The laws on ending fetal lives have not been arbitrary, until the overthrowing of Roe. The life they never consider is the life of the woman, who, being the physical host of the fetus, has the moral right to terminate at any and all times. Unfortunately that is not the case anywhere in the world; most everywhere she is considered a mere vessel and her life is considered as inferior value to the fetus she hosts.
When you speak of the cheapening of life, I think of the shocking latest customs on the cheapening of the lives of independent (not attached by an umbilical cord) people. As more of my friends are dying, I am hearing of obituaries not being written, and funerals/memorial svs being postponed for MONTHS, until "after the holidays," or "when it's convenient for everyone to get together." As if, "yeah, we don't want to pass up that Memorial Day barbeque, to officially mourn our loved one who can't attend, this year. He should have died at a more convenient time." It's not only a despicable lack of respect for the deceased, it's a slap in the face to the loved ones who need the comfort of mourning together, and sharing their grief. In fact no one can even be bothered to go through the phone book of the deceased and notify people. Apparently you need to be on Facebook, and be a "friend" on Facebook and check your account daily, to find out if your loved one died. The cheapening, and commercialization, of life is AWFUL and terrifying.
I dont know much about the laws on "assisted suicide" or "death with dignity." It is one thing to take one's own life, and another thing to have it facilitated by the medical community. I do think that mental anguish can be as severe as physical suffering, although I have not experienced severe physical suffering with no end in sight. I had friends who took their lives. Yes it was tragic and traumatic for me. But it matters, more, what it means for them. I hope and pray they are in a better place and no longer suffering.